Deconstructing Dev: A look at the changing perceptions of the Long Fellow from statesman to spy

On the 40th anniversary of Éamon de Valera’s death, his biographer Ryle Dwyer examines the changing perceptions of the long fellow including why he was called a spy.

Over decades there were puerile efforts to depict nationalist leaders like Éamon de Valera and Michael Collins, as gods or demons. In de Valera’s case, the libel laws ensured that some of the more outrageous allegations were not published here in his lifetime.

My introduction to 20th century Irish history was in researching a paper on the Irish Civil War while at the university in Texas in 1965. I was surprised to learn the conflict had essentially nothing to do with the partition issue.